ACTION ALREADY FOR 2013

[happy_tiger]

Should never compare players from the past as they were not professional players like to-day, but i am sure Churchill & other great players from the past would of been just as great as to-days players if they had the chance to train full time like the players do today.

Spot on tb.

I am sad to say that some fans of today's game do not have any interest in the past players or history of our great game.

If they did they would realise that most of the players named as "the greatest" come from the distant past or not so distant past. If they played today they would be just as great.

eg. Churchill, Lewis, Gasnier, Langlands, Irvine, Beetson, Tommy R, Sterling, Raper, Fulton etc. etc.

Fulton hasn't retired yet

 

[GNR4LIFE]

Should never compare players from the past as they were not professional players like to-day, but i am sure Churchill & other great players from the past would of been just as great as to-days players if they had the chance to train full time like the players do today.

Spot on tb.

I am sad to say that some fans of today's game do not have any interest in the past players or history of our great game.

If they did they would realise that most of the players named as "the greatest" come from the distant past or not so distant past. If they played today they would be just as great.

eg. Churchill, Lewis, Gasnier, Langlands, Irvine, Beetson, Tommy R, Sterling, Raper, Fulton etc. etc.

Just a question. Are you one of thoese people who are stuck in the past, and think the modern day game can never be as great or produce some of 'the greatest' players the game has ever seen? do you also still complain about scrums?

 

[innsaneink]

Should never compare players from the past as they were not professional players like to-day, but i am sure Churchill & other great players from the past would of been just as great as to-days players if they had the chance to train full time like the players do today.

Spot on tb.

I am sad to say that some fans of today's game do not have any interest in the past players or history of our great game.

If they did they would realise that most of the players named as "the greatest" come from the distant past or not so distant past. If they played today they would be just as great.

eg. Churchill, Lewis, Gasnier, Langlands, Irvine, Beetson, Tommy R, Sterling, Raper, Fulton etc. etc.

Doesnt mean current players cannot be included in your list, they were all once ''current players''

Slater, Lockyer, Thurston & Marshall would not be out of place there

 

[Tiger_Watto]

Alot always try and compare past eras based on the present day. I wonder if we did it in reverse.

It would be interesting to see Slater run into an Eadie, Raper, McCarthy or even a Blocker under the rules and refereeing of their eras… I have a feeling if the contact was made early Slater may have had little to no impact on a game and would only get a job as a sand boy?!

 

[diedpretty]

A champion of previous eras would be a champion of the current era if given the same training, diet, full time professionalism and all the other trimmings that goes with todays game - and GNR that doesn't mean that past eras were better - it just acknowledges that there are champions in every era.

 

[westTAHger]

so does anyone have any idea about who the marquee signing for 2013 is ?

 

[Snake]

Alot always try and compare past eras based on the present day. I wonder if we did it in reverse.

It would be interesting to see Slater run into an Eadie, Raper, McCarthy or even a Blocker under the rules and refereeing of their eras… I have a feeling if the contact was made early Slater may have had little to no impact on a game and would only get a job as a sand boy?!

Interesting post Watto I grew up at Lidcombe oval in the 70's and know what aggressive players were of that era ..whether modern day players would cope would be interesting and then on the other hand some of todays players especially forwards would eat a lot of he 70's forwards with strenght and the like.. but with sheer aggression of the earlier era yes the Billy Slater types woud be hard pressed to make much of any impact after one of those maulings we will never know!

 

[cunno]

Alot always try and compare past eras based on the present day. I wonder if we did it in reverse.

It would be interesting to see Slater run into an Eadie, Raper, McCarthy or even a Blocker under the rules and refereeing of their eras… I have a feeling if the contact was made early Slater may have had little to no impact on a game and would only get a job as a sand boy?!

Interesting post Watto I grew up at Lidcombe oval in the 70's and know what aggressive players were of that era ..whether modern day players would cope would be interesting and then on the other hand some of todays players especially forwards would eat a lot of he 70's forwards with strength and the like.. but with sheer aggression of the earlier era yes the Billy Slater types woud be hard pressed to make much of any impact after one of those maulings we will never know!

Fair point Watto, slater's toughness would have been tested in past era especially if he ran near a scrum or the forwards but then again maybe his skills would have been further appreciated had he been a star then. I'd like to have him in our team now especially with Skando as the trainer :stuck_out_tongue:

 

[Goose]

Alot always try and compare past eras based on the present day. I wonder if we did it in reverse.

It would be interesting to see Slater run into an Eadie, Raper, McCarthy or even a Blocker under the rules and refereeing of their eras… I have a feeling if the contact was made early Slater may have had little to no impact on a game and would only get a job as a sand boy?!

disagree completely. Players hit harder now than in previous eras, been proven scientifically, makes sense has they are now faster, bigger and stronger. A player with speed, game awareness and agility like slater would have been a star in other eras.

There are players whose skill set in the modern game would not transfer back to other eras and vice versa.

Aiden Tolman is a good example, a very good player in the modern game, i feel he may have offered little in previous eras, the work horse metre eater is valuable in this era, not so much in others.

In general the human race gets better at things, same goes with sport, the standard of play generally continues to behave.

 

[king_sirro]

Goose, just on your comment about Tolman…..i think the opposite. Someone like him would have killed it in the old days. No interchange, less size, more work. Look at the size of the old players, they were tiny besides the odd front rower, and i know Tolman is a front rower, but Australia had backrowers weighning around 85kg. Guys like Pearce, Folkes, Vautin, Langmack, were stars and were all smaller than Liam Fulton.

 

[Goose]

Goose, just on your comment about Tolman…..i think the opposite. Someone like him would have killed it in the old days. No interchange, less size, more work. Look at the size of the old players, they were tiny besides the odd front rower, and i know Tolman is a front rower, but Australia had backrowers weighning around 85kg. Guys like Pearce, Folkes, Vautin, Langmack, were stars and were all smaller than Liam Fulton.

you might be right, re tolman, didn't think of it that way…...

perhaps a poor example, I guess Im saying given the change in the game, some skill sets are more or less important in different eras, making certain players more or less valuable....

 

[innsaneink]

I remember whenever (and it was rare) Arthur Beetson was put on the deck, he'd take an eternity to get to his feet and play the ball, he'd get to a knee, put the ball on the ground with both hands and push himself up that way….one of the best players ever but would be totally redundant in this regard (the play the ball) in todays game

 

[happy_tiger]

I remember whenever (and it was rare) Arthur Beetson was put on the deck, he'd take an eternity to get to his feet and play the ball, he'd get to a knee, put the ball on the ground with both hands and push himself up that way….one of the best players ever but would be totally redundant in this regard (the play the ball) in todays game

Another difference Ink was you had to be careful that someone didn't strike for the ball during the play the ball also

 

[supercoach]

The game today is a completely different game to the game played ten years ago and beyond. To suggest the champion of yesterday would succeed today is a big call. Take golden legs Barnes for example, kicked a zillion goals, could defend but ran the 100 in 20 seconds. Than you go to say a player like Les Boyd, given todays full time training I think would be an absolute superstar (if he played hard and within the rules). What Iam probably saying is that the elite players from days gone by that also had athletic ability would succeed, the hard tough guys that had no step,could not pass and were pretty one dimensional would struggle, but really the game bears no resemblance to the one played today so really we are all really guessing

 

[happy_tiger]

I understand what your saying about Les Boyd and his skills Supercoach and agree with you about that type of player but Les hated the city and many believe his actions were to get him as far away from the city as possible

Les personally would of struggled in the current game due to his attitude and homesickness

 

[Joel Helmes]

I think there's no doubt today's game is much, much faster.

The players are also bigger and are a more consistent size e.g. go back to the late 90's when Balmain had Mick Neil at about 80 kilos and Siro and Roach at about 105!

Now your wingers and halfback's generally weigh about 90 kilos (if not more) and most props are actually not that much heavier than that - instead they are a great deal faster and more agile than days gone by.

So when you look at body size and shape that would eliminate many of the greats of the past from handling NRL today.

 

[Goose]

I think there's no doubt today's game is much, much faster.

The players are also bigger and are a more consistent size e.g. go back to the late 90's when Balmain had Mick Neil at about 80 kilos and Siro and Roach at about 105!

Now your wingers and halfback's generally weigh about 90 kilos (if not more) and most props are actually not that much heavier than that - instead they are a great deal faster and more agile than days gone by.

So when you look at body size and shape that would eliminate many of the greats of the past from handling NRL today.

Altho I dont disagree, full time training would change some of that, someone like Roach might slim down and train to be more agile, while wingers and centres of the past would most likely put some size in the gym.

some stars of the past would not have the genetics even with full time training to make it in the current game.

that said of course there would be players in todays game that would not have made it in past eras.

another pro for the modern game is they are much better at finding the best players now than in the past. Clubs have a huge emphasis on identifying and recruiting talent from all over the place now, in the past tis was less important.

 

[palms]

Back on the topic, with $BW on the verge of signing with toe Roosters this would obviously mean Dugan would be out of the race as far as they go. He may be the marque signing for 2013 although I haven't heard much with what is happening between him and Furner and I would imagine he would be holding off signing any contract until the TV rights have been confirmed.

 

[Spartan117]

I read here some time back that Duggs was a lock to the Drags.

Can someone confirm?

 

[Cultured_Bogan]

I read here some time back that Duggs was a lock to the Drags.

Can someone confirm?

Smoking Gun was the source IIRC. Heading to the Dragons to play alongside his best mate (Vidot.)